Hair curler

ABSTRACT

The present invention concerns a hair curler comprising a retaining bar articulated on to one end of the curler body, the articulation consisting of a ring that revolves freely around the end of the curler body and hinge connecting said ring with the retaining bar, the axis of the hinge being perpendicular to the axis of the curler.

{mite States Patent [191 Morane 1 May 28, 1974 Bruno Pierre Morane,Paris, France [30] Foreign Application Priority Data 2,899,966 8/1959Skelton 132/40 3,209,766 10/1965 Danna! 132/40 3,256,892 1/1966Esposito, Jr. 132/83 3,209,766 10/1965 Dannat 132/40 PrimaryExaminerRussell R. Kinsey Assistant ExaminerGregory E. McNeill Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Brisebois & Kruger June 10, 1971 France 71.21096 [57]ABSTRACT The present invention concerns a hair curler comprislll. g aretaining bar articulated on to one end of the r curler y, thearticulation consisting of a g that L58] Flew of Search 132,40 41revolves freely around the end of the curler body and hinge connectingsaid ring with the retaining bar, the [56] g gf zf g gi axis of thehinge being perpendicular to the axis of the curler. 1,839,668 H1932Gaire 132/42 R 2,720,882 10/1955 Solomon 3 Claims, 2 Drawing FiguresAW"? l/nk3 D ,.F O

l I I A I "1' i H 10 M s PATENTEU HAY 28 1914 FIG-2 HAIR CURLER Certainhair-curling methods used in hairdressing or hair-treating involvewinding the hair around curlers consisting of cylindrical bodies, thesecylindrical bodies usually having a lateral surface defined by acircular directrix and a straight or curved generatrix, depending on thecase.

In the known types of curlers, the cylindrical body is usually a hollowbody enabling the ventilation of the hair by the inner channel of thehollow body, orifices often being provided in the wall of thecylindrical body to connect the central channel of the hollow body withthe ambient space surrounding the wall of the curler.

It was clear that the hair had to be kept wound around the curler duringthe hair-treatment process; to this end there has already been proposed,in US. Pat. No. 2,682,272, a curler associated with a retaining stripdesigned to hold the hair on the curler, this retaining strip beingarticulated onto one end of the cylindrical curler body. In theinvention previously proposed, the articulation consisted of a swiveljoint whose male part was integrated with the cylindrical curler body inthe latters axis, placed at one end, and the female part of which isintegrated with the retaining strip associated with the cylindricalcurler body. At its other end, the retaining strip consists of a springcatch that, when the retaining strip is shut in the direction of thecylindrical curler body, allows its position to be set by integratingits free end with the cylindrical curler body; this integration makes itpossible to block the hair that is wound around the cylindrical curlerbody between the cylinder and the retaining strip, which is thus held inplace by its two ends on the said cylindrical body.

One of the simplest methods for getting the spring catch of theretaining strip to catch onto the cylindrical curler body is to place aperpendicular part at one end of this strip and to introduce thisperpendicular part into the slots provided at the end of the cylindricalcurler body, the end that does not accommodate the swivel joint of theretaining strip.

With respect to curlers of the type just described above, as defined inUS. Pat. No. 2,682,272, it has been found that it is usually rather hardto get the perpendicular part to catch in the slots provided for thispurpose at the end of the cylindrical curler body, because of the factthat there is always a certain amount of play in the swivel joint, sothat the movement of this strip, contrary to what might be expected,does not occur on a diametral plane of the cylindrical curler body butcan occur with a considerable angular deflection with respect to thediametral plane along which the median line of the strip falls at theinception of the shutting action. The result is that the user has togrope in order to make the retaining strip catch, failing which theretaining strips perpendicular part does not fall into the slots, sothat the retaining strip is not securely fastened and the hair woundaround the curler is apt to come unwound unintentionally before the endof the hairdressing process.

It is the purpose of the present invention to remedy the above drawbackby proposing a method of articulation of a retaining strip associatedwith a curler of the type described above, a method of articulation thatmakes it easy to get the perpendicular part to fall readily into theslots provided for this purpose at the end of the cylindrical curlerbody.

The purpose of the present invention is the new manufactured productconstituted by a curler with a retaining strip making it possible towind the hair around a cylindrical curler body and to block this hair bymeans of a retaining strip articulated onto one end of the cylindricalcurler body, said retaining strip being fitted, at the end opposite fromthe joint, with a perpendicular part making for ease of falling into theslots provided, at the corresponding end of the cylindrical curler body,characterized by the fact that the retaining strip is integrated at itsjointed end with a ring that revolves freely around a cylindricalsurface provided for this purpose at the end of the curler body, wherethe articulation occurs, the axis of the said cylindrical surface beingthe axis of the curler, and the connection between the said ring and theretaining strip being provided by a film hinge whose axis isperpendicular to that of the curler.

In the optimal form of construction, the axis of the film hinge islocated in the plane of the ring, which revolves freely around thecylindrical surface provided at the end of the cylindrical curler body;the cylindrical curler body is a hollow body containing an inner channelopening out at either end of the curler, the wall having orifices evenlydistributed over the entire surface of the cylindrical body; the end-ofthe cylindrical curler body, on which the catch fastening of theconnecting rod of the retaining strip takes place, is provided withradial slots or notches evenly distributed over its periphery; thecylindrical curler body is integrated, at the end containing theretaining strip articulation, with an end cap grooved along its axis,said cap entering into the cylindrical curler body and containing thecylindrical surface around which revolves the ring integrated with theretaining strip, said ring being gripped between the end surface of thehollow cylindrical curler body and a toothed flange provided on the cap;the cap is in tegrated with the cylindrical curler body by any suitablemeans, for example by gluing or by ultrasound soldering.

It will be noted that the curler according to the invention includes acardan joint for the articulation of its retaining strip onto thecylindrical curler body: the rotation of the ring around its cylindricalsurface makes it possible to select the diametral plane on which theretaining strip will be articulated; the film hinge then allows theretaining strip to move on the selected diametral plane. It will benoted that, because of the width of the film hinge used, when the userpresses on the retaining strip, it is impossible for him to trigger anymovement of the latter other than on the selected diametral plane. Inconsequence, the perpendicular part of the retaining strip will at alltimes fall into the radial slots provided for this purpose at the end ofthe cylindrical curler body, never falling wide of the slots provided,as has happened with earlier models.

In order to provide a better understanding of the purpose of theinvention, we shall now describe the model represented in the appendeddrawing, as a purely illustrative and nonlimitative example.

In this drawing, FIG. 1 represents in perspective a curler in accordancewith the invention, and FIG. 2 represents, in an axial cross sectionpassing through the median line of the retaining strip, the curler shownin FIG. 1.

Looking at the drawing, we see that the number I as a whole designatesthe cylindrical curler body according to the invention. Body 1 is arevolving cylinder whose generatrix has a curved shape such that the divameter of the cylindrical body is larger at either end of thecylindrical body than in its central part. Cylindrical body 2 is made ofa granular-surfaced plastic material, and it defines an inner recess 2opening from the two sides of the cylindrical body 1. The side wallcontains orifices 3 evenly distributed over the entire periphery of thecylindrical curler body. On one of its ends the body of the curler 1 hasslots or notches 4 provided radially in the wall of the body 1 andevenly distributed over the periphery of this end. At the opposite endof the body 1, in the recess 2, a cap 5 has been fitted, the centralpart of which is grooved to define a channel 6 allowing the circulationof air along the full length of the curler in accordance with the axisof the recess 2. The cap 5 accommodates at its outer end the end notentering into the interior of the body 1 a flange 7; the accommodationof the cap 6 in the body 1 is limited by a graduated bank 8 provided onthe cap 5.

A retaining strip 9 cooperates with the curler body 1; it is jointed atone end onto the cap 5 that forms one piece with the body 1, and canfasten into its other end on the body 1 by means of a perpendicular part10 bearing a fastening tab 11, said fastening tab fitting into the slotsor notches 4 and becoming blocked between two diametrally opposite slots4 and projecting into recess 2. The length of the retaining strip 9 isvirtually the same as that of the curler body 1.

The jointing of strip 9 onto the curler body is done bymeans of a ring12 integrated with the curler body via a film hinge 13. The ring isgripped between, on the one hand, the end surface 1-A of the cylindricalbody 1, on the side of this body on which the cap 5 is accommodated,and, on the other hand, the flange 7 of the cap 5. The ring 12 revolvesfreely around the cap 5 by turning around a cylindrical surface 14located on cap 5, between the graduated bank 8 and flange 7. The axis ofthe surface 14 is the same as that of the cap 5 and of the cylindricalcurler body 1; the axis of the film hinge 13 is perpendicular to theaxis of the surface 14 and is on the median plane of the ring 12.

In working with such a curler, the user rolls the hair around the curlerbody 1, the strip 9 being in its raised position more or lessperpendicular to the axis of the curler body. The existence of the strip9 in no way interferes with the winding of the hair around the curlerbody 1, because of the fact that the ring 12 revolves freely around thecylindrical surface 14, thereby allowing the curler to revolve aroundits axis without causing the strip 9 to move in any way. When the hairis fully wound, the strip 9 is lowered by being made to pivot around theaxis of the film hinge 13. it will be noted that this movementnecessarily occurs on the diametral plane of the curler in which thestrip 9 is located at the triggering of the lowering movement. when thestrip has been lowered, the fastening tab 11 drops into a slot or notch4 and, through elastic deformation, assumes the position represented inFIG. 1: the catch-fastening action is then performed and the retainingstrip 9 blocks the hair wound around the curler body 1.

It should be noted that, in the curler according to the invention, theuser necessarily lowers the strip 9 along a diametral plane of thecurler, so that he necessarily achieves the catch-fatening of the tab-llin the recess 2; by contrast, in earlier curler models, in which thearticulation of the retaining strip was done via a swivel joint, therewas always a certain amount of play, so that the user was liable tobring the fastening tab 1 1 wide of the grooved end of the curler body1, thereby running the risk of failing to suitably secure the retainingstrip. The outstanding advantage of the curler according to theinvention is due essentially to the use of a cardan-type joint, it beingunderstood that the film hinge 13 is sufficiently wide to prevent bar 9from undergoing, as a result of elastic deformation, a falteringmovement on either side of the diametral plane on which its movementoccurs.

It is understood that the method of construction de scribed above is inno way limitative and is open to whatever modification may be required,without this entailing a departure from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a hair curler comprising a tubular body having a main tubularportion, transverse slots at one end, thereof, and a retaining cap onthe other end thereof, together with a retaining bar having at one end atransverse part adapted to fit into said slots, the improve ment whichcomprises a ring mounted to rotate freely about a cylindrical surfaceformed on said cap but permanently retained thereon, said ring beinggripped between the end of said tubular portion and a flange on saidcap, and flat hinge means which turns about an axis perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis of said tube and connects said ring to the other endof said retaining bar.

2. A hair curler as claimed in claim 1 in which said cap is adhesivelysecured to said tubular portion.

3. A hair curler as claimed in claim 1 in which said cap is secured tosaid tubular portion by ultra-sonic welding.

1. In a hair curler comprising a tubular body having a main tubularportion, transverse slots at one end, thereof, and a retaining cap onthe other end thereof, together with a retaining bar having at one end atransverse part adapted to fit into said slots, the improvement whichcomprises a ring mounted to rotate freely about a cylindrical surfaceformed on said cap but permanently retained thereon, said ring beinggripped between the end of said tubular portion and a flange on saidcap, and flat hinge means which turns about an axis perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis of said tube and connects said ring to the other endof said retaining bar.
 2. A hair curler as claimed in claim 1 in whichsaid cap is adhesively secured to said tubular portion.
 3. A hair curleras claimed in claim 1 in which said cap is secured to said tubularportion by ultra-sonic welding.